We will be in Cairns and the surrounding area next Nov/Dec. At one point we want to drive up Mt. Lewis, which is not a paved road. I haven't had any luck yet finding a rental agency that will allow this for extra insurance, etc.

Does anyone have any ideas? While we will probably use a birding guide for some of the time, one of the guides we are considering isn't licensed to drive her vehicle and while we could use another, there is still always the possibility we might want to go up on our own at one point.

I rather hate the suggestion of just doing it anyway. I just know something will happen and I will buy a new car for a rental agency on my Australian vacation!

Try these guys, they are based in Cairns and don't just deal with the big names in car hire.
http://www.cairnsdirect.com.au/

Thanks for that link, Martin, and I will be interested in the results of your search, Toucan2! A place we are considering staying in Cooktown has RAV4s that they rent for the nice low fee of $120/day!!! I would be interested in hearing of a place that has 4WDs that you can take on dirt roads that cost a bit less.
Sally in Seattle

Toucan2,
A word of clarification. The issue is of operating a commercial vehicle. For a one person business this adds greatly to the expense of the business and hence to the charges made to the guests. I suspect that not only is your guide licensed to drive but has a licence to drive a bus. Most of the Australian hire car companies require you to hire a 4WD, or SUV, to take off the sealed road.

Hi,

yes, I know she is licensed to drive, just not licensed to take us in her car as a commercial vehicle. Sorry I wasn't clear on that.

My quest will continue and I'll post here what I find out!

If the guide is not doing the driving in her car on a commercial arrangement then there is nothing stopping her from driving anyone in her car. Perhaps though she would feel better getting everyone to sign a waiver.

There's another guide we might use, suggested on this board, who I think can drive us up there. Still would like the option of going on our own again if we want, but we'll just have to see. Thanks for all the input here and if I find something I'll let you know!

Try Del Richards of Fine Feather Tours
[email protected] He has been out of action but is back on deck now.

Another vote for Del, he's had his knees fixed now and is set to go.

Glad to hear his knees are fixed! I've been away so am just getting back to the boards. Happy to see this posting. I think Del was one of the ones you suggested Pat, and I'll probably be contacting him.

I'm scrolling through my old threads looking for the advice I had previously received and came across this thread. I had said I would post what I had found out...mostly for Sally in Seattle.

The answer is, I haven't found out much. Sugarland Rentals in Cairns gave me a very nice reply to my inquiry, and basically said use your own discretion where to go, but if something happens on an unpaved road, insurance won't cover it.

Sorry I couldn't find out more for you Sally!

There is a lot of confusion about which rental companies will allow their vehicles on unsealed roads and this can be a problem as so many of our major attractions and accommodation properties in the far north of Queensland are situated on these roads!

Both Avis and Budget state in their Terms and Conditions:-
3.1 You and any Authorised Driver must only use the Vehicle on a road, which is properly formed and constructed as a sealed, metalled or gravel road.

Thrifty says:-
The Vehicle must not be used by You or by any Authorised Driver (unless authorised by Us in writing): On any unsealed road (being a road not sealed with a hard material such as tar, bitumen or concrete) unless the Vehicle is a 4WD in which case it may also be used on graded unsealed roads.

Smaller companies in general are less flexible so you would have to check with them individually.

It is understandable that they would not want their cars to go off-road on very rough tracks but nearly all the unsealed, gravel roads are gazetted roads and are well-maintained by local councils, are less busy than main roads and therefore theoretically a lot safer to drive on!

Toucan, thanks for thinking of me with your search. I just saw your post. The information that Sunbird has is quite good. Thank you, Sunbird, for looking into it. We are only planning on going on regular roads, although some are unsealed, so it is quite good news that some companies allow it. We spoke to I think Dollar and they said that the road to Laura was OK but the road to Hope Vale out of Cooktown was not. We'll do some more research with your encouraging information.

Toucan, did you hire a birding person? We are thinking of doing that out of Port Douglas because we want to see a cassowary (safely!!) as well as other birds and creatures.
Sally in sunny Seattle

Hi Sally

If you are really keen to see a cassowary you have a few options. Apart from the fact that they are now occasionally seen as you drive north of the Daintree River towards Cape Tribulation (not guaranteed of course!) you will certainly see them freely roaming at both Daintree Wild Zoo (between Mossman and Daintree Village)and at the Rainforest Habitat Wildlife Sanctuary just outside Port Douglas.

Oops this seems thread seems to be going off-track from the car rental question - sorry!

Sunbird, thank you so much for the information re: Thrifty. I will go doublecheck who I ended up with for car rental (I made initial plans awhile ago).

No problem re the thread making a move to birding! That's a big part of our trip.

Sally, no we haven't hired a guide just yet. We have gotten recommendations and heard very good things both on this board and other places about Del Richards with Fine Feather Tours.

We have also met in the past and really liked Ellen Terrell who is in Daintree. We haven't birded with her, but if she is available when we are in the area we are considering going out with her if she'll have us

Here is Ellen's info:

Ellen Terrell (Naturalist Guide): Nature-based guiding with an emphasis on birdwatching, to suit individual itineraries. Morning or afternoon walks in and around Daintree Village, full and half day guided excursions to Cape Tribulation, Julatten, Mt Molloy, Mt Carbine, Atherton Tablelands.Ellen has lived in the Daintree/Cape Tribulation area for 20 years and is the North Queensland representative of AWT Travel Australia. Contact [email protected].

Here is some info on Del and his link:

Fine Feather Tours: A ‘fair dinkum Aussie’, Del Richards is very experienced in guiding birders of every level, from ornithologist to novice. On tour you will gain insight into the complex environments and North Queensland’s colourful history. Del is regional representative for Birds Australia and regularly contributes to magazines. Fine Feather Tours offers half and full day tours covering a wide range of habitats.

http://www.finefeathertours.com.au/

we also used the site www.ausbird.com.au to do a lot of research, and if you click on Queensland on that site, there will be a lot of information about guides and such.

I'd like to see a Cassowary out and about as well. But in a pinch, thanks Sunbird for the info!

Thanks, Sunbird for the recs for places to see cassowaries around Cairns and PD. We'll keep them in mind if "in the wild" doesn't work out! That second one is right on the road out of town, so we can always plan some time to go in there on the last day!
Toucan2, keep us posted re the car and the bird guide. Although not really birders, we are considering taking Chris Dahlberg's dawn boat trip because it sounds so great and we can see birds, too! But not directly after the Dan Irby night tour YAWN.
Sally in Seattle

Hi Sally; Sunbird's given you some good tips there, Daintree Wild has more than cassowaries - a truly huge collection of Australian parrots and finches; as well as crocs, dingoes, quolls, kangaroos etc - my very favourite creatures there are the little sugar gliders.

When you're in Cairns you might be interested in Cairns Wilderness Walks .. www.cairnwildernesswalks.com -sometimes, Margaret the operator spots a cassowary up behind Crystal Cascades, but no guarantees of course.

sorry, typo, - its www.cairnswildernesswalks.com

Thanks, Pat, for the reminder of that tour group. We have so many options, I think we have to extend our trip to FNQ by say maybe a year!
Sally

Sally, I found this place that rents 4WD, but I haven't inquired about rates just yet: http://www.sargent.com.au/